Vancouver

We are here for three nights, a chance to rest, catch up on laundry, etc., and start planning the next section of our trip - North to Alaska!

On Friday 11 May we attended to housekeeping so our laundry, etc. is all up to date.

On Saturday 12 May (today) we went grocery shopping and refuelled. We didn't quite fill up because the pump stopped when we hit $200 (about NZ$225) at $1.69/litre. We are driving a Ford truck with a 6.8 l V10 engine. It holds 55 US gallons (210 litres) and chews through it quickly as we motor up and down mountains and at 65+ mph on freeways. The budget for fuel on this 67 day trip is $5 - 6,000 😰.

After we had bought our groceries and fuel, we decided to visit White Rock, a seaside place with a pier and nice views to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Unfortunately it was early Saturday afternoon and we wouldn't have been able to park a mini, let alone a motorhome. Restaurants abounded, as did people. We continued to drive - we had no choice - and were rewarded with a view of a volcano which we think was Mount Olympus, on Washington State.



Tonight we are joined by another seven couples and their motorhomes and at 8.00 am tomorrow we will all set off for Kelowna.

A word about the people we meet. We keep meeting people because we stand out, sometimes because our voices are different and sometimes because there are a group of us travelling together in nearly identical motorhomes. Early on the Americans were friendly and welcoming but we now find the Canadians more so. It's difficult to do something as simple as take trash to a dumpster without being intercepted and questioned. They are unfailingly polite, interested and (mostly) interesting.  Whether in our motorhomes or on foot their behaviour at intersections is gentle and patient. It's refreshing.


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